Every once in a while, you get a game that generates too much hype for its own good. Without the hype, these are titles that probably make for a good play; but add the expectation into the mix and what you get is a slightly bitter taste in the mouth. I believe it’s safe to say Rezel Cross falls into this category.

Proclaimed as the first ever PSP RPG to be available in Chinese before its Japanese release, Rezel Cross was launched to the surprise of million of Chinese-proficient players a few months back. As an exclusive RPG instead of a port, my expectation of the game was high, and this was further elevated with the impressive screenshots I saw in the Chinese gaming magazines. Perhaps due to such expectations, I was looking to be playing something in the realm of a Final Fantasy, but Rezel Cross falls short because it turned out to be more of a “Metal Gear Solid” disguised as an RPG. Don’t get the wrong idea. MSG was a great game, but is it equally good if it were an RPG? Read on to find out…

Screenshots via GNN & TGBUS.com.

Get the Genre Right, Will Ya?

To understand why I compared Rezel Cross to a stealth-based action title, we need to start off with the game play. From the first look, Rezel Cross does not differ that much from your usual turn-based RPG. You walk around, meet enemies, and engage in battles. When you come to specific locations, you are treated to conversations or cut-scenes to forward the story. In fact, you would be tempted to believe you are playing a traditional Dragon Quest style old-school RPG in the first ten minutes, until you come face-to-face with the much dreaded…

MISSION MODE.

Yes, you heard right. Mission Mode. Something you have probably never heard of in an RPG (until Final Fantasy X-2, which didn’t turn up much better either). Basically, the story of Rezel Cross is separated into chapters. In certain chapters, you will no longer be fighting bad guys or be worrying about your HP. In fact, you CANNOT engage in battles but will instead be required to stealth past obstacles, as well as solve puzzles with the use of your party members’ powers, such as teleportation and transformation (Imagine Snake from MGS, with psychic powers). This is my biggest problem with the game, A.K.A. Mission Mode.

Now this wouldn’t have been such a pain except that once you are spotted or captured, you will have to START OVER at the beginning of a mission (And some missions are quite lengthy, I might add). Never mind that you just defeated a kick-ass boss from the previous chapter; once you’re spotted by a lackey in Mission Mode, it’s straight back to the beginning of the stage… which is laughable with a strange sense of evil irony. For players not fluent in stealth-based games, there’s not even a chance to engage in some desperate, quick get-out battle. It does get a tad frustrating.

And did I mention there are no save points during these stages? For some of these missions where clues were not so evident, I actually tried over 50 times through trial-and-error just to get to the end. By then, the word “Fun” was the furthest thing from my mind. I just hope you are a better stealth gamer than me…

Not a Bad Linear Apocalyptic-Themed Story

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, Rezel Cross does feature an above-average story with an apocalyptic theme. The story takes place in a world where people and monster alike are “awakened” by a meteor, which gives the selected few super “Rezel Powers” such as telekinesis, time stop etc… Whilst some put these powers to good use, an evil Imperial Army decides instead to use the Rezel Powers to rule the world. Against this backdrop, Rezel Cross is the intertwining story of five people who eventually cause the downfall of an evil empire.

The story starts off with main protagonist Airu, a monster-hunter with the power of teleportation who is on a quest to pursue his dad’s killer. On his quest, Airu would meet up with several comrades, all with differing agendas. These include: Reifa, a natural-born time stopper shrouded in mystery; Dante, a cafe owner and resistance leader with the power to transform his looks; Marian, an Imperial Army doctor acting on a secret order, whose power is psycho kinesis; and Zess, a convict with the power of “Perspective” ( ie. Ability to see through closed-off areas).

During the game, the stories of all five characters are revealed in progressing chapters. Unlike conventional RPGs, you will be forced to play certain characters (or combination of characters) during certain parts of the game, which means you can be controlling Airu in one chapter, and playing Dante the next. The idea behind this, I presume, is to reinforce the idea of interweaving destinies, as well as to keep the difficulty down during mission modes (Imagine having to try different combinations of all five powers just to get past mission mode – sends a shudder down my spine just thinking that) This literally forces players to understand the plot through different perspectives, which can be confusing or innovative depending on how you like your story to be told.

However, the concept of using “chapters” does make the game extremely linear. Basically, you go from point A to B, thus completing a chapter, and then move on to the next chapter. Exploration is almost non-existential because the game developer is already too busy trying to juggle five different stories as the chapter progresses. Full mark for trying a new way to tell a story, but it certainly needs improvement if there were to be a sequel.

Sphere Grids… Here We Go Again!

In terms of levelling up, Rezel Cross adopts a sphere grid system similar to FFX or FFXII. Basically, your characters start off with an almost empty grid, which you can gradually fill up with crystals you won from battles. By putting these crystals in different slots, you can concentrate on improving specific areas of the characters (such as strength or special abilities), but eventually, avid gamers will end up completing the entire sphere grid anyway.

Battles are done in a turn-based format. You choose from a variety of commands, such as “Boost”, “Attack”, “Abilities” which causes your characters to act; and this is followed by an action from your enemy until one of you is dead. The battle uses an SP meter, which goes up every time you use a special ability and goes down every time you use a normal attack. When the meter fills to the max, you can initiate a special Hyper Rezel power by pressing the corresponding buttons on screen. Depending on the success of your execution, you can either wipe out your enemies or cause the HP of your party members to drop to 1. This double-edged sword does add an element of tension in the battles… in a good way.

As far as enemies are concerned, my personal feeling is that the protagonists tend to get overpowered starting from as early as the 3-5 chapters. Enemies were challenging at first, but they sort of faded away and became whimsies that you easily destroy in 2 or 3 turns later. It’s hard to be engaged in battles when they are dead easy. By Chapter 10, you’ll be boosting and wiping enemies off the screen with normal attacks just as I did.

Bag of Mixed Nuts for Graphics & Sounds

This section of review is possible the hardest to do. On graphics, Rezel Cross does give you some impressive backgrounds and buildings to gawk at. In certain places, you can’t help but stand around and absorb the details that the game developer has managed to squeeze into the game. But in others (such as certain missions), the dungeons look like they were put together by stack of cardboards. It’s amazing how much effort can be put into in one chapter, only for the next to destroy your impression altogether. Battle graphics, on the other hand, are reasonably well-done and the battle movements are smooth and fast-paced. Overall, there is no lack of effort here.

It is just a shame that whatever effort that has been put into certain graphic modelling has not been used to enhance the characters’ designs and movement. Simply put, the protagonists, in my opinion, are not pleasing to the eyes, and I am not even talking about their 3D models. When moving, some of the characters also seem to be moving in semi slow-mo, I said “semi” because you are not in total slow-mo (like Xenosaga episode I), it’s just that sometimes you wish they could just move a little faster, especially when you are stuck in mission modes.

Sound-wise, there are no major problems or praises here. I say that because I hardly noticed the sounds or the music during game play. They are done just well enough that they don’t damage your sense of hearing, but don’t expect any Lunar or Tale of series in this department.

Special Mention: Cross Media Bar

Before we end this review, the Cross Media Bar deserves a special mention because this is possibly the first time a game attempts to do this. Basically, the Cross Media Bar is the interface you see when you switch on your trusty PSP, where you choose your commands (such as Setting, Images, Games etc…) from a “top-down” perspective. Rezel Cross adopts that same interface in the game, which does get a bit of getting use to – especially for RPG enthusiasts who are used to the conventional “menu screen”. Initially, I did have some trouble with the interface but it gets surprisingly easy to use 30 minutes into the game. Thumbs up to the developer with coming up with this one.

Some Good Ideas, Some Really Bad Ones

In conclusion, Rezel Cross is a pretty average RPG that would entertain gamers while it lasts. The story is okay by any standard but it is the way it is told (ie. in chapters) that needs to be improved, simply for the fact that it wipes out any chance of exploration in the game. Characters are not as pretty as I’ve hoped but it’s bearable if you don’t look too hard. The biggest problem remains the Mission Mode, which would probably kill off interest for RPG gamers who dislike stealth-based games. On the good side, the idea of using different powers to solve puzzles is nice, though it too could be executed more seamlessly into the game.

Taking all the above into consideration, PSPHyper gives Rezel Cross a playable 3 out of 5 stars.

Posted in PSP, Reviews on Monday, July 9th, 2007 at 3:51 pm | Comments Feed | Both comments and pings are currently closed.